Secrets of the Orient
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | Secrets of the Orient |
| Country of production | Germany |
| original language | German |
| Publishing year | 1928 |
| length | 123 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Alexander Wolkoff |
| script |
Norbert Falk Robert Liebmann Alexander Wolkoff |
| production |
Gregor Rabinowitsch Noé Bloch |
| music | Willy Schmidt-Gentner |
| camera |
Curt Courant Nikolai Toporkoff Fédote Bourgasoff |
| occupation | |
| |
Secrets of the Orient is a French-German OF EQUIPMENT , fantasy and fairy tales silent film of the exiled Russians Alexander Wolkoff in 1928. The escaped also to Western Europe Nikolai Kolin was there with a lead role its debut in Germany. Kolin's cobbler Ali “who came into possession of a miracle pipe and was therefore mistaken for a prince was also one of his most beautiful tasks”.
action
The Cairo cobbler Ali suffers agony from his quarrelsome wife Fatme, a true Xanthippe . He would rather escape this conjugal tyranny today than tomorrow and dreams of a life at the Sultan's court in luxury. One day he comes into possession of a magic pipe, and all of his wishes suddenly come into the realm of possibility. Ali quickly leaves home and hearth and travels on a ship as a stowaway to the Sultan's capital. At the residence, Ali sees the military leader Prince Hussein returning from a battle he has won, with Prince Ahmed as his personal prisoner. From his hiding place, Ali observes how the Sultan's favorite wife, Sobeide, and his daughter Gylnare adore the beautiful Achmed.
When Ali is discovered in his hiding place, he is brought before Prince Hussein. Hussein takes on Ali in his service. But now the little cobbler gets caught up in a series of court intrigues and adventures. He is introduced by the court astrologer to the sultan as a prince from distant lands, who wants to ask for the hand of the beautiful sultan's daughter Gylnare. But Ali soon comes into conflict with Prince Achmed, who himself desires Gylnare and runs away with the same. Thanks to his wishes fulfilled by the miracle pipe, Ali now gets into a mess after the other; after all, you even want to hang it up. Thanks to his miracle pipe, Ali and Achmed escape their terrible fate and the princely lovers are allowed to stay together. When Ali wakes up from his dream of whistling miracles because of a resounding slap in the face given to him by his quarrelsome wife, everything is back to normal.
Production notes
Secrets of the Orient was created between November 1927 and April 1928 in the UFA studios in Neubabelsberg (studio photos) and in Nice or near Tunis (outdoor photos). The film passed the censorship on May 29, 1928 and was premiered on October 19, 1928 in Berlin's Gloria Palast. The film opened in Vienna on November 30, 1928. The film had twelve acts, spread over 3105 meters, and was released for young people. In France, where Secrets of the Orient premiered on August 30, 1929, the film ran under the title Shéhérazade .
19-year-old Dita Parlo made her screen debut here. Alexander Loschakoff and Vladimir Meinhardt designed the film structures, Boris Bilinsky was responsible for the costumes. Anatole Litvak was Wolkoff's assistant director.
Reviews
The Österreichische Film-Zeitung wrote: “And yet Alexander Wolkoff, the imaginative director, has incomparably understood how to conjure up a fairy tale for the greats on the screen, whose appeal they fall into unconditionally. He gives impressions that you can still enjoy and relate to as an experience long afterwards. (...) ... in particular the achievement of Nicolai Kolin, who plays the cobbler unmatched, is extraordinary ... (...) "Secrets of the Orient" is really a work of art in German film, which its fame will surely carry through the whole world. There will probably be few cinemas in which you will not be happy to play this film, which has so happily combined the magic of the Orient and the charm of a true fairytale atmosphere. "
Paimann's film lists summed up: “Above all, the generous presentation ... and the excellent photography should be appreciated. Behind them the comparatively small action ... takes a back seat. In the first-mentioned respect, the directors do an excellent job, often at the expense of the pace, and skilfully drive the ensemble, which works in a pleasant collective without top performance. "
Web links
- Secrets of the Orient in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Secrets of the Orient at filmportal.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kay Less : The large personal dictionary of films , Volume 4, p. 438. Berlin 2001
- ↑ "Secrets of the Orient". In: Österreichische Film-Zeitung , November 3, 1928, p. 20 (online at ANNO ).
- ↑ Secrets of the Orient in Paimann's film lists ( Memento of the original from August 3, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
